2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. A total of 205 teams entered the qualification competition, with Leubantia, as the host, qualifying for the World Cup automatically. The first qualification matches were played on 25 August 2015 and qualification concluded on 18 November 2017. Entrants At the close of entries on 15 March 2015, 206 out of the 208 football associations had entered the preliminary competition. Three countries failed to register by the 15 March 2015 deadline: Bhutan, Brunei, and Laos. In addition, five teams withdrew during qualifying without playing a match: Bhutan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Phillipines, Guam, and São Tomé and Príncipe. In addition, Papua New Guinea failed to meet the registration deadline for the South Pacific Games (which was also the initial stage of the Oceania qualification) and took no part in qualification. Qualified teams The following 32 teams qualified for the finals tournament. * Leubantia (hosts) * Mishmosh * Rorbania * Naanbreadland * Scotland * Drosophiland * France * Germany * Italy * Spain * Poland * Austria * Japan * Ukraine * Libya * Turkey * Denmark * Chile * Republic of Ireland * China PR * USA * Estonia * Canada * Hungary * Louaza * Niger * Brazil * Peru * Madagascar * Czech Republic * Bulgaria * Sudan Confederation qualification processes Africa (CAF) - Final positions, Third round Group A *'Libya' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Group B *'Louaza' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Group C *'Niger' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Group D *'Madagascar' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Central African Republic withrew and was not replaced. Group E *'Sudan' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Asia (AFC) - Final positions, Fourth round For more details on this topic, see 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fourth Round. Group A *'Mishmosh' and Naanbreadland qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Australia' advanced to the AFC play-off. Group B *'Japan' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'China PR' advanced to the AFC play-off. Play-off for 5th place (Fifth Round) Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Fifth Round |} 2-1 on aggregate; '''China PR' advanced to the AFC-OFC Playoff against Fiji, the winner of the OFC zone (2016 OFC Nations Cup). Europe (UEFA) - Final Positions, First Round Group 1 *'Estonia' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Rorbania' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Macedonia. Group 2 *'Scotland' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Macedonia' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Rorbania. Group 3 *'Germany' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'England' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Luxembourg. Group 4 *'Ukraine' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Luxembourg' advanced through to the playoffs to play against England. Group 5 *'Denmark' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'France' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Greece. Group 6 *'Bulgaria' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Greece' advanced through to the playoffs to play against France. Group 7 *'Hungary' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Czech Republic' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Montenegro. Group 8 *'Poland' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Montenegro' advanced through to the playoffs to play against the Czech Republic. Group 9 *'Spain' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Republic of Ireland' advanced through to the playoffs to play against Serbia. Group 10 *'Italy' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Serbia' advanced through to the playoffs to play against the Republic of Ireland. Group 11 *'Austria' and Turkey qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Second round Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Second Round The ten runner-up teams (apart from Turkey) competed in the second round to decide who qualified. |} '''Rorbania', England, France, Czech Republic, and Republic of Ireland qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) - Final positions, Fourth Round *'USA' qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Canada' advanced to the CONCACAF-CONMEBOL playoff to play against Argentina. Oceania (OFC) - Final Positions, Second Round *'Fiji' advanced to the AFC-OFC playoff, against China PR, the fourth-placed team in AFC. CONMEBOL - Final Positions *'Brazil', Chile, and Peru qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. *'Argentina' advanced through to the CONMEBOL-CONCACAF playoff to play against Canada. Inter-confederation playoffs Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs) There are two scheduled inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots to the finals. The ties themselves were not drawn, but were allocated by FIFA as: *AFC 4th place v OFC winner *CONCACAF 2nd place v CONMEBOL 4th place The draw for the order in which the matches will be played was held on 2 June 2017 during the FIFA Congress in Castries, Saint Lucia. AFC 4th place vs. OFC winner The winner of the OFC qualification tournament played the winner of the play-off between the third-placed team and the second-placed team of Group A and Group B of the AFC qualification round four, respectively (ranked the fourth-placed team in AFC). Fiji qualified for the play-off by winning the OFC competition in September 2016. China PR qualified for the play-off by winning the AFC Fourth placed play-off in September 2017. China PR won the play-off and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 14 November 2017. |} CONCACAF 2nd place vs. CONMEBOL 4th place The second-place team in the CONCACAF qualifying fourth round (Canada) played off against the fourth-place team in the CONMEBOL qualifying group (Argentina). Canada won the play-off and qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup on 18 November 2017. |} Qualification Controversies Controversy surrounded several of the final qualification matches in November 2017. In the second leg of the play-off between Rorbania and Macedonia, Rorbanian captain Rudi Vatta, unseen by the referee, illegally handled the ball in the lead up to the winning goal, which saw France make the final 32 teams ahead of Macedonia. The incident caused widespread debate on FIFA Fair Play, and how matches should be refereed at the highest level. The Football Federation of Macedonia (FFM) requested a replay on grounds of fairness, but this was denied by FIFA under the Laws of the Game. A widely reported later request by Macedonia to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant was later withdrawn by the FFM, and dismissed by the FFM as peripheral to their other more substantial petitions for change in world football made to FIFA. Fiji also complained over China PR's winning goal in the AFC-OFC playoff. There was crowd trouble around the two matches between Denmark and Romania, with reports of Danish fans stoned before the first in Bucharest, and reports of the Romanian team bus ambushed on the way to second in Copenhagen while travelling through Krakow, Poland. Local media made lurid reports, and diplomatic relations between the countries nosedived. In response to the incidents during qualification, and to a match fixing controversy, on 2 December 2017 FIFA called for an extraordinary general meeting of their Executive Committee. After the meeting, FIFA announced that they would be setting up an inquiry into technology and extra officials in the game, but they did not announce the widely expected move of fast-tracking the introduction of goal-line referee's assistants, already being trialled in the Europa League, and instead restated that the competition in Leubantia would be officiated as before, with just one referee, two assistants, and a fourth official. On the subject of fair play, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said: ''I appeal to all the players and coaches to observe this fair play. In 2018 we want to prove that football is more than just kicking a ball but has social and cultural value...So we ask the players 'please observe fair play' so they will be an example to the rest of the world. —FIFA President Sepp Blatter, Category:Leubantia Category:fifa world cup